New Moon 16th Birthday
by champcuute
Summary: "Come on, Inuyasha, please?" "No way!" Kagome promised to visit home on her birthday, but wants to have the best of both worlds on her special day, literally.


Hello everyone! Yup, this is another story from yet another anime. I had been writing the other story I was planning for the Familiar of Zero I mentioned, when I got writer's block, and instead of thinking about it I just started writing on another subject, which happened to be my current anime Inuyasha ^_^'.

I was on episode 40 or 50 something when I started writing this so, I wasn't aware of anything that happened later in the series. I had the whole anime, been waiting, hoping that Kagome's friends would meet Inuyasha, or that Inuyasha would spend the whole day out with Kagome and meet people from her world who didn't know about his half-demon thing instead of inside her house waiting. But now I'm later in the series and there's been more scenes in Kagome's world, and I think there's even one episode where Inuyasha really does meet Kagome's friends, but I think it's near the end of the 6th season. Anyway, enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I seriously don't know why anyone would believe I own this anime/manga. Isn't the website's title FANfiction enough to tell it's not an original idea. Oh well, I guess I'll put it up just to be safe. I don't own this anime and/or any of its franchise.

"Come on, Inuyasha, please?"

"No way!" A young, delicate female human was bent over a half-demon sitting cross legged. She had both her hands together just next to her chin in relaxed prayer poise. She was looking down with closed eyes and a pleading smile at the turned boy just a few feet away.

"But it's a new moon tomorrow night." He turned his nose from the air to her as he answered in an indignant tone.

"Why do you want me to go all of a sudden, anyway? This isn't my first new moon with you." The girl just sighed and straightened up a little as she looked at her friends for support.

_'Hi, I'm Kagome Higurashi, your average, ordinary ninth grader. My family members are caretakers of a very old, historic shrine. I led a normal life until on my fifteenth birthday; I was pulled in through a spiritual well that took me to the Japanese Feudal Era. There I met a half-demon named Inuyasha and through a series of events, I started a journey with him to recover the shards of a sacred jewel that were scattered throughout the country. Right now we're in the village near the well that is the passageway to my world.' _

"All the other times we weren't near the well. And besides, don't you want to see more of my world?" The girl named Kagome tried her best to sound encouraging, hoping to win over his curiosity. From ramen to potato chips to television, she had shocked the dog demon with various unknown items and had led to his increasingly frequent demands that she show him more.

_'I bet if he knew what tomorrow was he would come on his own accord. But I don't want to say it's my birthday tomorrow or else Shippo, Miroku and Sango will want me to stay and celebrate with all of them. Sorry everyone, but I promised mother to visit.'_ At his denying the request again though, she finally let her legs collapse and land softly on the grass as her silver-haired friend just brought his nose back up to its previous spot, away from her and pointed upward in a rebellious way.

"I agree with Kagome, Inuyasha," said the insightful monk, "so far you've only met her family and haven't seen much of her world. I'm sure we would understand more of all the things she brings if we were told from the perspective of someone from this world." Miroku was looking all wise as he brought his left hand to his chin and closed his eyes. _'Also I'm curious to know if all the girls from Kagome's world dress like that. I have to admit I'm a little jealous of Inuyasha. If only I could go through the well too...' _Everyone gave him a disgusted look as they saw a thin line of drool begin to form at the corner of the perverted monk's mouth. All the talking with Inuyasha did nothing to deter the small child's worries as he ran up to the girl.

"Kagome, you'll be back soon, right?" Shippo, the orphaned fox demon, stared up to Kagome with worried eyes. The girl just gazed warmly at him as his tiny fists tightened their grip on her ruffled skirt.

"Don't worry, I'll be back the next evening at the latest," she now turned back to her current problem, "so Inuyasha, will you come?" They all looked at him sure that from all the encouragement and reasoning he would finally agree. Predicting said agreement, they leaned just a fraction as the half-demon turned back to them in arrogant eyes and a frown so small it was almost gone from view.

"...No." He just looked bored as all his companions slumped in disappointment.

"Why not?" The time traveler quickly got up and showed her frustration, her patience long gone, and her warm encouraging tone replaced with that of annoyance. She seemed to be ready to do her own transformation into a demon. _'I'll tie him up if I have to. I'm sure the necklace will give us enough time to get rope if I keep saying sit.' _The boy had other worries on his mind.

"You know I'm weaker when in human form. Why now of all times would I go to a strange world when I'm at my weakest?" He whispered, still reluctant at admitting his fear, hating having made his secret transformation known to them in the first place. Kagome's attitude softened in understanding as she realized her selfish desires. Her shoulders sagged in guilt at her thinking about kidnapping Inuyasha. _'It's not because he dislikes me, it's because he's worried.' _She exhaled in acceptance of his reasoning, knowing all too well how it feels to go to a different world defenseless from first hand experience.

"Inuyasha, that's an even better reason," The girl now crouched gracefully as the leaves underneath crackled. "Over there you don't need to be strong. Everyone over there is a human." At this everyone shifted from the demon to her.

"Really? You mean there are no demons in your world?" Sango closed her eyes, finding it hard to imagine a world with just mortals and wondering if her main occupation, which was slaying demons, was the direct cause of the said creature's disappearance.

"Mm-hm, that's right. So Inuyasha, you'll actually be safer with me there than here." Kagome had now switched to a cheerful personality, hoping this would urge him. _'Come on, Inuyasha. Even if something did happen, I would be there.'_ The dog demon being out of excuses finally gave it some thought.

"I-I guess. And it's only for one night?" He was still reluctant to leave, since no matter what or where he was during his sudden loss of power, he still felt vulnerable. _'But if there are no demons, and Kagome is going, even if I'm a mere mortal, it'll be better than here.'_

"Yes, only one, then you can come back if you want." They all awaited his answer. Inuyasha seemed to be mediating. After a few moments a tired sigh was heard before he got to his feet and, although he wasn't smiling, his frown was gone.

"I'll go." Smiling was ear to ear, Kagome was now hugging a befuddled Inuyasha.

"Thanks Inuyasha. Get ready, we'll leave at dawn tomorrow!"

::::::::::

"You aren't bringing anything?" Kagome looked quizzically at Inuyasha. _'If he was ready yesterday we could have left earlier.'_

"Why is that surprising? I've never brought anything with me before." Kagome realized how unrealistic she was being. Inuyasha was clearly not the cautious type, who would bring anything incase of problems. But she shook it off, nothing could ruin her excitement.

"You ready then?" She tried to show a reassuring smile, remembering her first few days here with the half-demon. The ninth grader had felt so nervous and unsure, so defenseless against the overwhelming demons. But Inuyasha had helped her through it, so she would do the same for him. _'He might not face demons in my world but it's still no walk in the park.'_

"Of course I'm ready, or else I wouldn't be here!" Kagome held herself from jumping at his rude attitude, not wanting to scare the boy and make him rethink his decision, even changing his mind and not go at all.

"Let's go then." He hesitantly nodded his approval and moved towards her. They reached for each other's hands from force of habit and jumped in. Soon the air stopped flowing through their hair, leaving it to just hover. A hue of dark purple started to overtake their vision while the brick walls and overgrown vines soon became a blur. Soon the purple lightened and started showering them in sparkles as the portal to the other world opened. A sort of floating sensation overtook them as gravity seemed to flip. They felt their feet touch the ground as slowly the twinkling lights and bright shades of colors disappeared to show what seemed to be the same well they had just fallen in to.

::::::::::

"So he'll be staying for today and we'll go back tomorrow." Kagome tried to look serious as she explained the change in plans for her special day, but it was hard not to at least chuckle at her family's awestruck expressions. One by one, they each went up to touch the dog demon's ears, despite their already meeting the half-demon. Deciding to just distract herself, she stared off into the serene, gentle sky she could see from her window until they stopped their investigation of his canine features. _'Why is it pink though? It must be a sunset. It's already evening here?'_

"So is he going to wait here until you come back?" Kagome was brought out her wonderings and stared at her mother confused. The lady had finished her fussing over the dog demon's ears and had proceeded to move on to his hair.

"Come back?"

"From school," her mother just looked at her calmly. Kagome just scrunched up her nose as she began processing the short sentence._ '…It's not a sunset, it's a sunrise!'_

"SCHOOL! I totally forgot." Kagome grabbed her Feudal Era guest from her mother and flew to her room. She rapidly checked her clock and instantly relaxed at seeing there was little over an hour before her bell would ring. Plenty of time to get there. The girl now turned to solve her guest issue.

"I have to go to school but I'll be back later." Inuyasha was usually obedient so it wasn't given a second thought. She was about to bolt from her room, wanting to get there early and study, when she was stopped by a tug on her sleeve. Kagome's puzzled expression was met with his determined look.

"I-I'm coming with you." For the first time, he seemed to willingly show anxiety, concern. _'Inuyasha...'_ She looked at him uncertainly, but swallowed her words of reason when she saw how worried he seemed to be, not to mention his stuttering. _'I'm such a fool! With all the horrible things I've said about tests it's no wonder he's nervous about me going to school.'_

"Ok, but we'll have to do something about your appearance." Inuyasha just looked uncertainly at her statement.

::::::::::

"Why can't I wear my fire rat robe?" Inuyasha had now only his white shirt which he wore underneath his usual red garment. He also switched his puffy red pants with those of the black, thinner ones that Kagome's mother had saved from Kagome's father's clothes. They had a sort of freshly ironed look to them. His bead necklace was still around his neck, only because Kagome had insisted.

"Because people in this world don't wear those clothes anymore." She looked him over. _'Looks ok, his pants are long enough to cover up the fact he has no shoes, and his shirt doesn't look that strange. His hair being long and not to mention silver might attract a bit of attention but, it can't be helped. Wait, his hair, his hair, I'm missing something. What is it? I don't see wha-THE EARS!' _She clutched her head for almost forgetting the most obvious evidence of all.

"Ka-Kagome, can we go-HEY! What's this for?" Inuyasha was looking almost horrified at the black fedora hat he had practically torn from his head, probably along with a few of his hairs. It was a medium sized brimmed hat, with a small shallow dip on the oval top and a slight curve to its brim on the front. It had a barely noticeable white, crisscrossed pattern to it.

"You can't go out with THOSE!" Kagome pointed towards the appendages that just so happened to twitch above his head as she said this. She looked almost as though she thought it unbelievable for him to go outside otherwise.

"Why not?" He just looked angry at being discriminated for it. He remembered just the other day he had woken up one morning to find her playing with them in his unconscious state, and whispering to her self how soft and adorable they were. And now she was deeming them disapproving. _'The nerve!'_

"People will immediately realize something's up. Please just wear the hat." She wasn't energetic enough to argue about it with the stubborn half-demon. Besides if they didn't hurry, she really would be late.

"Fine..." He put it on and crossed his arms. He just looked on blankly, with half drooping eyes and usual pouting frown, as Kagome searched him over once again for anything else suspicious.

_'Well, I think were good to go.'_ She stopped statically examining him and finally looked at her companion through her eyes with her heart instead of her brain. _'It's not really his style, but Inuyasha certainly looks nice in that outfit. The hat and pants sort of match. It's certainly a nice change from seeing just red each time I look at him. This outfit makes him look new and crisp, more mature. If he weren't looking so annoyed with those unfocused eyes, he would look quite breathtaking.'_ Kagome snapped out of her thoughts as she remembered the whole reason she was doing this. _'OH MY GOODNESS! We're going to be late!' _She didn't give Inuyasha a chance to look at himself or even react as he was swiftly pulled by his sleeve and out the door.

::::::::::

"Sorry to be so sudden." Kagome looked on tiredly as at last she finished explaining to her teacher her situation. _'Or at least what she thinks is my situation.'_ She had told the adult that an exchange student from America staying with her family had come to experience a new culture for today and had forgotten his paperwork. Somehow she also persuaded the teacher that they both sit in the back; they now sat together, with her at the very left of the room next to the wall-to-wall windows, and him right next to her. She remembered how her teacher's glasses had gleamed when asking to meet this 'culturally aware gentleman'. Kagome had hastily told Inuyasha to be quiet and let her do the talking while he was pushed from the door towards the awaiting adult.

"Oh no, worries," the tall, brunette teacher said, "we always welcome such enthusiastic learners." Kagome could feel herself holding back from flinching as she imagined Inuyasha yelling at the teacher for trying to 'teach him'. _'How did I get into this?'_ Everyone scattered as the bell rang. The teacher smiled down at Inuyasha which he met with a raised eyebrow and deeper frown.

"Well mister…um mister..." The reincarnated priestess quickly blurted the first thing that came to mind.

"Tetsusaiga! Um, he's Mister Tetsusaiga." She looked up and elbowed Inuyasha as she saw him inch closer to the scissors on the table, curious as to why two small swords would be doing hinged together like that.

"Well, Mister Tetsusaiga, come here and introduce your self to the class." Kagome smiled innocently. She walked slowly towards her seat but stopped just enough to whisper urgently to her foreign friend.

"Just say your name and that you're from America. Got that? A-me-ri-ca." The girl continued walking to her desk as if nothing happened. Taking a deep breath, she sat in the brightly lit metal chair and braced for the worse. Students reluctantly finished their conversations as the teacher addressed the whole class.

"Class, we have an exchange student for the day. Everyone be kind and patient with him." The teacher nodded towards the silver-haired figure to signal his turn to speak. He walked closer to her and put on a confident air about him, turning slightly as he spoke.

"Yo, I'm Inuyasha," He must have thought that was enough of an introduction since he began walking towards his seat beside Kagome. His attitude changed from confident to perplexed as he registered a persistent expression from his black-haired friend. She had been pointing at him, signaling some strange message, the other students too focused on him to notice. She kept doing the weird signals as he did his best to translate them. "I, walk-I mean come for-from Aaa-merico." He seemed oblivious to the loud bang coming from the back as Kagome slammed her head to her now cracked desk. Inuyasha just walked indifferently to his chair. _'This is going to be a long day.'_

::::::::::

"Inuyasha, do you really come from America?" Kagome was looking away trying to direct her attention to her own friends, but failed miserably as she couldn't help eavesdrop on the conversation going on mere feet away. Inuyasha was surrounded by all the girls and even some of the boys. The teacher had gone to take some kid to the nurse or something.

"Ye-yea..." He turned curiously to each and every person around him. _'All the girls are dressed just like Kagome, and all the boys seem to be dressed the same too.'_ Kagome was looking maliciously at the current girl her dog demon friend was speaking to. The reincarnated priestess now had a dark cloud big enough to flood the school if it broke lose. _'Who would have thought Inuyasha would be so popular, especially with the girls.'_

"Kagome, are you ok?" She turned and looked sheepishly at her friends. _'I can't let them know this was the guy I was talking about when I said my boyfriend. They'll drown him with questions!'_

"Yea...I'm fine," even with that statement she still glanced at the group through the corner of her eyes. Inuyasha had his arms crossed and was leaning a little back in his chair. He seemed to be unconcerned to the attention, now done with his investigation, and was now somewhere between looking calm and spaced out. _'At least he isn't encouraging them,'_ Kagome thought. Her heart felt broken just at the thought of him even throwing appreciative looks at any of the girls. Kagome tried to get her mind off of it. Soon her prayers were answered though, as the bell rang and everyone got ready to go home.

_'Finally! Geometry will kill me sooner than any demon.'_ The reincarnated priestess turned to the disguised half-demon.

"Inuyasha, lets g-" Hojo abruptly came out of thin air and blocked her view from Inuyasha. Kagome, through a series of dramatic attempts at sneaking a peek, finally spotted her time traveling companion over the shoulder of her classmate. The dog demon was obviously trying to ignore some girls, who were still glued to him despite the sudden departure of everyone else at the bell. Inuyasha must have felt another pair of eyes directed towards him, since he finally opened his. He was about to close them when he saw it was just Kagome, but they shot wide open once he noticed another guy was with her.

"...So, is Saturday ok?" Kagome finally took her attention off of the dog demon long enough to realize she had been asked a question._ 'Saturday? I don't kno-wait, what day is today?'_ Thinking about the date, she didn't notice the fiery atmosphere form right next to her. Hojo was about to ask if she had other plans when he was interrupted.

"Who are you?" Both turned around to find an enraged Inuyasha staring at them with pure hatred. Hojo, being the oblivious person he is, just looked at the exchange student kindly.

"Oh I'm sorry, I'm Hojo." He stuck out his hand while giving a warm-hearted smile. As Kagome looked to the both she thought they couldn't look any more different, with a bright, inviting aura coming from Hojo while Inuyasha had a dark red one for his. He was baring his fangs and his hair was bristling with murderous eyes on the unaware student.

"Like I care what you're name is." Hojo was taken aback at this. The reincarnated priestess looked at Inuyasha and noticed that the previous girls around him were gone. _'He must have scared them off.'_

"O-oh, I'm sorry to bother you then," Hojo said, feeling puzzled at the half-demon's response. He brushed it off as he turned his attention to his well-known crush. "So Kagome is Saturday ok for-"

"Kagome isn't going anywhere with you!" They both turned back to the now growling demon. _'Inuyasha...'_

"Kagome isn't going anywhere with you," he repeated, inching closer, "why would she?" He smirked. "You're just some infatuated kid, who is way out of his league." Hojo finally realized the danger he was in as he saw the exchange student's ridiculously long fingernails glint as he brought them up.

"Don't worry; I'll make sure you don't forget you're mistake." Inuyasha was about to bring down his claws when he had the air taken out of him. Kagome had used the ever fearing word, bringing him face down to the floor. She looked scornfully down at him before smiling apologetically at the boy.

"I'm so sorry Hojo! Don't mind him; all this, um, culture just overwhelmed him. But anyway, I can't make it on Saturday, so maybe some other time." The boy just blinked and tried to understand what just happened. Kagome grabbed her demon friend and went out the door, not giving him the slightest chance to recover. She slammed Inuyasha to the wall.

"Inuyasha! What were you thinking?" Kagome angrily flung her fists to her sides and leaned to the dog demon on the floor. Inuyasha just turned from her and crossed his arms.

"It disgusted me, how he was looking at you." She just rolled her eyes. _'Which part Inuyasha? The way his smile was spotless of cruelty or the way his eyes glowed flawlessly?'_

"Never mind lets just go, I need to go get some things fo-."

"Kagome!"

'_Huh?'_ The said girl was met with the sight of her three best friends running up to her.

"Eri, Yuka, Ayumi. What are you doing here?" She looked bewildered as they all grabbed on to her and pulled her away from the person she had barely reunited with.

"Just a second, Inuyasha."

"We need to talk with Kagome."

"Wait here, we'll be right back." The disguised demon just raised an eyebrow at them as they glided away.

"Kagome, Kagome! He's the one, isn't he? The boyfriend you always talk about." Eri was clapping her hands together in unsuppressed joy as she remembered all the times they had sat at their favorite fast food restaurant, WcDonald, and talked about the mysterious boy. She had herself doubted if he was really all she spoke of, but after seeing how he acted towards Hojo, he was definitely the jealous delinquent Kagome had described.

"Ye-yea, that's him." Kagome looked sadly at her secret crush being discovered so fast. _'Guess I'll tell Inuyasha what I've told these guys and get it over with.'_

"Just a sec, guys. I-I need to talk to him."

"No way! You won't introduce us and just run away. Don't worry Kagome-chan, we won't mention it if you feel embarrassed." Yuka had bowed her head while bringing clapped hands up above her. _'Well, that was easy. At least Inuyasha won't find out.'_

"Thanks Yuka, but I better be goin-"

"Oi Kagome! What are you guys doing over there?" They turned to the topic of their recent conversation. He had his somewhat closed fists on each side of his waist, and had uninterested eyes towards them. The three friends giggled at Kagome's ever increasing red tint. They walked back to the demon as the reincarnated priestess tried hiding her blush.

"Kagome, who are these guys? Are they bothering you?" He was looking suspiciously at the giggling girls. _'Are they making fun of Kagome?' _He had to keep from snarling at the mere thought of somebody bullying Kagome.

"N-no, they're my friends, Inuyasha. They're my best friends actually." She looked down to her seemingly fascinating hands. Inuyasha just relaxed and turned to the girls in mild interest now. Eri and Yuka moved back from his intimidating stare. One of the girls though, came up to him, unfazed by his boorish attitude. Inuyasha unconsciously took a step back as she walked to him fearlessly with an overpowering impression.

"Hi, I'm Ayumi! I've heard so much about you from Kagome, so it's nice to finally meet you." She was smiling ear to ear as she held her arms together behind herself. Her eyes must have been gleaming, but couldn't be proven as eyelids were covering them up. His guarded eyes slowly changed to carefree ones as he flashed her one of his few happy, innocent grins at her, the atmosphere coming from her totally friendly and trustful.

"Nice ta meet you, Ayumi. So…what has Kagome told ya about me?" Kagome's lingering tint of pink turned into pure crimson at her demon friend's eager question. _'Inuyasha must be wondering if I've talking bad about him! But it's just about the opposite! But Ayumi wouldn't say anything, right? They promised, didn't they?'_ Everyone waited tensely as Ayumi had yet to respond. She opened her eyes and looked slightly stunned. After registering Inuyasha's worried expression directed towards her, she put the back of her hand to her mouth and giggled, her back shivering with the joyful vibrations. The dog demon couldn't help the warmth that was coming to his face as he looked bewildered at her action.

"Wha-why are you laughing?" Ayumi showed him devious eyes and smirked at his puzzled face. She turned fully to him and just sighed.

"Oh nothing, just you're attitude." Inuyasha looked away insulted. The girl seemed the least bit affected by it.

"What bout it?" He looked at her through the corner of his half-lidded eye. Inuyasha couldn't help being upset, having so easily let his guard down around her, for her to now only laugh at him.

"It's cute." He froze at those words, having not expected them. He gradually turned to her again, analyzing any sign of mockery. A smirk appeared on his features as he gazed at her, not having found any sign of a charade. But he couldn't openly show his happiness.

"Whatever." He moved away again but this time not in defiance but assurance. The girl just pushed him from behind and jokingly chastised his attempt at being cool. The other two girls, having only been watching cautiously until now, walked closer as Inuyasha turned around and teasingly shoved her back. Ayumi and Inuyasha both looked at each other and broke out into whole-hearted snickering and laughing. Soon both calmed down though in fear of suffocating otherwise.

"Well I guess I'll see ya." The demon finally headed towards the unmoving Kagome, who had watched the scene before her with unmoving eyes. "Let's go, Kagome."

He reached out and shook her shoulder as she still did not move. "Come on, Kagome. Didn't you say you needed to go buy something or other?" She blinked a few times as her brain began functioning again.

"Oh yea. Le-lets go." Kagome just started walking away. Her friends were surprised by how quick she was to leave, not even saying goodbye. Inuyasha just walked beside her silently.

::::::::::

"Thank you." Kagome said as she was handed wrapped steaks by the butcher. She returned to her demon friend who had been standing against the wall watching her. He started drooling as the all too familiar smell of steaks reached his twitching nose. Both friends began heading home as the violet shade in the sky increased with the coming sunset.

"Kagome, what are those for?" He was eyeing the pieces of meat with love struck eyes. Sadly the girl holding them just acted uncaring to his apparent request.

"How should I know? Mother just asked for them. They're probably for lunch tomorrow." The demon's expression switched to that of sadness at the discovery that they weren't for him. Kagome couldn't help but smile at his rare cute moment. _'Cute, huh? Ayumi called him cute.'_ She remembered the moment all too well.

The reincarnated priestess couldn't feel a little crushed at how easily Inuyasha had become friends with Ayumi. It had taken her days, maybe even weeks to gain the dog demon's trust. She felt an almost numbing pain as she came to another conclusion. _'What if Ayumi is more than a friend to him?'_ She had heard of love at first sight but never thought she would see it, in herself or anyone else. Kagome looked down dejectedly at the oblivious demon. Inuyasha had now proceeded to try sneaking steaks from Kagome. But soon he had about given up on secrecy and started to pull on the package with his fangs deciding to just run away if caught. But noticing his friend's miserable expression he halted his attempts at the food and slowly brought his face closer to hers.

_'I shouldn't be stopping him if they do like each other.'_ Kagome was still too deep in thought to notice the dog demon's new route of action, until she could feel a ghostly breath turn the hairs on her neck straight up. She gasped at the sensation and quickly focused her eyes on the ones in front of her.

After a while of nonstop staring, she suddenly looked around as she remembered she was still out and in the public. But as she took in her surroundings she realized they had stopped in an isolated alleyway. The next open street more than a few meters away, they were unnoticeable by the outside world. Unease gripped her heart at the thought that she and the half-demon were completely alone. She didn't know why though, because she knew Inuyasha wouldn't hurt her. The restlessness only increased as Inuyasha yet again brought his face closer to hers.

"I-Inuyasha, wha-what are-"

"Why?"

"Huh?" Kagome managed to mutter. She felt her respiration stop as the half-demon brought up a clawed finger. As it was about to come in contact she squeezed her eyes shut, expecting him to poke her nose and laugh at her worried expression, it all having been just a joke. But all she felt was a cool digit softly trace up her cheek to the bottom of her right eyelashes. Kagome gasped as she felt the distinct feel of moistness on her cheek. The demon brought up his finger for her to see. On it laid a perfect, round sphere of clear liquid.

"Why, are you crying?" The girl finally realized what all this meant. She had been so spaced out she hadn't noticed she had been crying. Kagome brought up her own hands and confirmed it. _'But why would I be crying, nothing's wrong.' _Deep down a part of her knew exactly why she had been crying, but that part also knew why the rest of her wouldn't acknowledge it.

"O-oh, I must have got something in my eye or-"

"This is about what happened with your friends, right?" Kagome was beyond shocked at Inuyasha's unusual monotone voice. For the hot-headed and proud half-demon to be anything less than a mood ring was surprising. Yet here he had a stone cold face that seemed to chill her more than the frisk evening air. And not only that but he had realized why she had been crying before she had known she was crying. She couldn't believe it. Inuyasha, the oblivious idiot, had discovered her problem before she had known there was one.

"What, what do you mean?" Kagome now tried turning and scooting away from her current location, hoping that after enough denial the issue would be dropped. But Inuyasha now put a hand to the side, keeping her from moving any farther. She barely heard another low thump to her other side that indicated the other way was now blocked with his arm as well. With nowhere to go, she turned back to the half-demon and immediately flushed as she noticed he hadn't stopped staring at her.

"Don't play dumb, I can tell when you're not okay." His eyelids had slowly lowered as he explained, as he had a calculating expression on his features. Anxiety grew as Inuyasha got even closer. Kagome pressed herself to wall now.

"In-Inuyasha. Wha-why are you doing this?" The girl didn't know what frightened her more, how emotionless he had been or the smirk he now wore on his face, a smirk that looked half-hearted and forceful as if trying to hide something else. Closing her eyes, she looked away, the sight of this Inuyasha too much now. This time around she did notice when a few tears escaped her slouched head.

She vocally gasped as she felt warmth incase her. The girl, turning her face, discovered that the sudden warmth was from his arms around her, hugging her. She felt unbelievably comfortable, but no matter how she wished for it to be true, she didn't dare believe he was actually showing affection to her.

So she looked up.

And then her eyes met his. Kagome noticed there were a few unshed tears in his now, but somehow, even though they looked agonized, heartbreaking to watch, she couldn't help but think they were the most beautiful golden pearls she had ever seen. Golden pearls that shone with teardrops and were followed by a trembling smirk.

"I'm sorry."

"Wha?" Kagome instantly lost all her fear and apprehension, her distress for the dog demon more important than anything else. Inuyasha now brought her even closer, his arms moving just a fraction as he laid his left cheek on her head. She could feel his sharp intake of breath and didn't know whether he was just smelling her shampoo or he was taking in shaky breaths.

"I'm sorry, Kagome. I'm so sorry." Kagome felt her heart shatter instead of heal as she heard his barely audible apologies, whispers sounding so full of remorse. She felt small droplets soak her hair and she distinctly wondered if it was raining. The girl actually heard the boy sniff as he continued.

"When I saw you, your face so, so hopeless, so hurt, so silent. I-I felt so angry; I wanted to burn the person responsible with hottest fires in Hell. I wanted to drown them in the deepest oceans. I wanted to strike them with the thinnest, sharpest blade, so they could be in as much pain as possible before they died. I had wanted them to feel as much pain as they had caused you. The pain that seemed to melt your spirit away. And then," gasping, the half-demon paused, "and then, I realized that person, the person I felt so furious about, that I had wanted to destroy was me. The way your confidence, your happiness, you very reason for life seemed to just disappear; I had never felt so scared in my life. Scared that I couldn't protect you. I could slay humans, demons, even kill spirits, but I couldn't protect you from the most dangerous creature alive. Me. Me, the one who caused those tears on your face to fall." Kagome had never guessed Inuyasha had felt this way about it, about her. She felt horrible for having put the dog demon in so much pain. The girl now wrapped her arms around him and leisurely leaned her head into the comforting heartbeat that had tempted her so many nights, but had always been so out of her reach.

"Kagome, I'm sorry. Please forgive me. Forgive me for not saying this sooner. Forgive me for having to put you through so much to realize it. Forgive me for loving you, Kagome." Tears freely flowed from both as they stood there and calmed each other with their presence. They felt a breeze caress their cheeks and take with it the last traces of their sorrows. Finally feeling the on-top-of-the-world sensation she always did when around him, she brought her head to look at his still saddened one. As he saw her showing her ever present smile, the one that stayed even when he was with someone else, Inuyasha was overcome with guilt. He abruptly turned his neck to bring is eyes to stare away, at anything but her. Unlike previous times he wouldn't run away, wouldn't leave her alone to suffer, but couldn't bring himself to look at her straight on.

Cool hands stroked his chin and gently moved it back in their direction. His cheeks turned to a slight cherry as she came close enough for him to feel the humid air she breathed out through parted lips. Mind having been shut down long ago, his heart took over as he saw her passionate eyes look at his mouth and back at him. She was moving near now, her lips brushing barely against his, almost as a test to see if he would back away. No longer worried about all the things clouding his head the past few months, he let himself go. His eyes now closed dangerously low as emotion overflowed from his being. Kagome pulled slightly back though, as she remembered his confession.

"I'll forgive you Inuyasha, if you forgive me for loving you back." This was barely murmured over her labored breaths as the sun came increasingly close to vanishing over the horizon. Mere millimeters away from their tempting desires, the dog demon finally moved and brought his thin lips over hers. A last bright ray came upon them as the sun disappeared. They shifted their heads so they could get as close to each other, savoring tastes never before imagined. With darkness overtaking the sky without the last of the sun present, they hesitantly parted for air. Inuyasha was the first to open sleepy eyes. He felt himself breathe out satisfied while taking in the girl's flushed and messy face, with a small strand of black hair falling over her ear and her mouth open, gasping for much needed oxygen. She smiled up at him, holding back from moving to meet his mouth with hers again, still relishing the taste of the wind that were his lips.

Soon they were brought back down to earth, as Inuyasha's human blood pulsed and caused his monthly transformation. His transformation left him with now cool, dark hair and the absence of ears and claws. They sighed contentedly as they hesitantly separated.

"We sho-should probably keep going now." Kagome still had a dreamy look on her eyes as she looked up at the boy. Inuyasha widened his eyes at remembering their unfinished task and brought them back down, chuckling lightly. _'That's just like Kagome, to always have work on her mind. My Kagome.'_

"Well let's go then." He barely lifted his left arm in invitation. The girl gladly accepted as she hugged the limb close to her and leaned on it while both walked on in comforting silence.

They soon came up to the door and were about to enter when Inuyasha was pulled lightly away from the handle. He turned sounding slightly surprised at Kagome.

"Kagome?" She just looked up with pure, affectionate eyes.

"Before we go in, I want to make sure. We're a couple now, right?" she asked, even though she sounded the least bit doubtful. The girl seemed to be in a never-ending good mood now. But the dog demon still felt shy about the subject.

"O-of course! You know, if you want to." Inuyasha looked away blushing as he mumbled the last part. The ninth-grader seemed to finally be content and let herself dose in his embrace.

"I'd like nothing more…" Inuyasha soon stopped his fidgeting long enough to hear soft snores come from his new, official girlfriend. He chuckled at her, careful to not wake her up as he picked her up and brought her in to the silent house.

"Sorry for the hectic day. I didn't plan to tire you out, when I decided to come with you to celebrate your special day. Happy 16th Birthday, Kagome."

This is my first real big story, my past stories being about 1,000 words and this one being about 6,000, and I have to say I like how it turned out. I had actually envisioned it different, with Inuyasha just reassuring Kagome that he doesn't like Ayumi in the alleyway scene, and going home to find a surprise birthday party where they would finally admit they like each other and stuff. But I just started writing what came to mind and this came out, but I think it came out better. It got a little emotional I'll admit but that's what romance is about. Anyway, I'd love to hear how I did from outside sources, whether it be reviews or messages. And about the Familiar of zero story, I might postpone it a few more weeks, until I finish the current animation flip note I'm working on. But don't worry, the story is long from forgotten.


End file.
